Moscow room rates rise for World Cup

RUSSIA The average daily rate (ADR) in Moscow over 2018 is expected to grow to 5,930 roubles per day, which is 28-30 pct above the rate for 2017, while St Petersburg is to see 22-26 growth, according to Colliers International.

According to the Federal Agency for Tourism (Rosturizm), Russia will be visited by 1.5 mln foreigners during the World Cup. This should have a greater impact on the operational performance of the hotel industry in Moscow than in St Petersburg as free rail travel and affordable flights will enable some fans to base themselves in Moscow and travel on day trips to St Petersburg. Colliers forecasts that average annual hotel occupancy in Moscow could grow by 5 pct to reach 80 pct, and in St Petersburg by 3 pct to 71 pct.

“In 2018, the FIFA World Cup, as well as the Eastern Economic Forum and the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, have fuelled interest in Russia. This is now the most prosperous period in the last four years for hoteliers of Moscow and St Petersburg. We expect that hotel occupancy and hotel revenue in both cities in 2018 will reach a five-year high,” said Evgenia Tuchkova, deputy director of the consulting department at Colliers International in St Petersburg.

In 2017, 21.5 mln tourists visited Moscow in 2017, which is 13 pct more than in 2016, while 7.5 mln visited St Petersburg, 8.4 pct more than in the previous year. Hotel operating performance in both cities has grown steadily for the third year in a row.